Spectral analysis of fetal heart sounds in healthy and pathological subjects
24 May 2012-International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics (Inderscience Publishers Ltd)-Vol. 4, Iss: 2, pp 125-139
TL;DR: It can be safely concluded that the frequency spectrum and its contents of fetal cardiac sounds are specifically related to the health of the fetus.
Abstract: The paper presents the well-established spectral analysis approach to diagnose the physiological state of an unborn using phonocardiography The separation of systole and diastole segments from a complete cardiac cycle of the fetus is carried out through envelope detection and threshold decision The averaged periodogram is used for estimating both the spectral distribution and the dominant peak of the fetal heart sound signal The current study clearly demonstrates that the fetal heart sound signals and their frequency spectra from the pathological subjects exhibit markedly different characteristics from those of healthy subjects It can be safely concluded that the frequency spectrum and its contents of fetal cardiac sounds are specifically related to the health of the fetus The importance of this study lies in the fact that with this approach, recognition and accurate estimation of systole and diastole periods of the fPCG signal as well as the quantification of their frequency contents can be performed very efficiently
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01 Mar 1981TL;DR: It is of importance that all providers of health care to the woman in labor and her newborn have a clear understanding of the basic pathophysiology of fetal heart rate monitoring and an appreciation for labor course and concerns as they arise in order to optimize outcomes and patient safety.
Abstract: Electronic fetal heart rate monitoring is a widely utilized means of assessment of fetal status during labor. Whereas little evidence exists regarding efficacy, this modality continues to be used extensively in every modern labor and delivery unit in developed countries. It is of importance that all providers of health care to the woman in labor and her newborn have a clear understanding of the basic pathophysiology of fetal heart rate monitoring and an appreciation for labor course and concerns as they arise in order to optimize outcomes and patient safety.
264 citations
TL;DR: Fetal heart rate monitoring affects the lives of millions of women and infants every year in the United States alone and is crucial to daily obstetric practice.
Abstract: Fetal heart rate monitoring affects the lives of millions of women and infants every year in the United States alone. Used by all members of the obstetric team nurses, students, midwives, and physicians – it is the primary method to assess fetal oxygenation in both the antepartum and intrapartum setting. Improving outcomes and promoting patient safety depends upon correct use and interpretation of fetal heart rate monitoring, and is crucial to daily obstetric practice.
134 citations
TL;DR: The described procedure of baseline determination provides a solid base for automated detection of accelerations and decelerations in Fetal heart rate recordings and enables the study of the relation between the fetal heart rate pattern and fetal movements.
Abstract: A consequent and reproducible determination of baseline is an essential prerequisite for objective interpretation of fetal heart rate. A fully automated off-line method of baseline determination has been developed and tested on 50 normal antepartum fetal heart rate recordings of two hours duration. The method is constructed around two functional units, a digital filter and a trim function, which interact in an iterative process. The results were evaluated in comparison with automated baseline determination according to Dawes and coworkers. A panel of 3 experts agreed that in 14 of the 50 recordings (28%), the new developed procedure resulted in a substantially better baseline fit. In the remaining 34 recordings (72%), baseline fit from both methods was judged as equivalent. The described procedure of baseline determination provides a solid base for automated detection of accelerations and decelerations in fetal heart rate recordings. It enables the study of the relation between the fetal heart rate pattern and fetal movements. Finally, it provides an objective tool for analysis of variables within the fetal heart rate with the highest predictive value with respect to fetal outcome.
114 citations
"Spectral analysis of fetal heart so..." refers background in this paper
...Stethoscope is a device most widely used by the medical practitioners to listen to the fetal heart sound from the maternal abdominal surface and makes a diagnostic investigation (McDonnell, 1990)....
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TL;DR: Relationships observed between body surface area, sex, blood pressure, and the frequency content of heart sounds indicate that as heart size increases, the amplitude of the frequency coefficients above 150 Hz decreases, which may indicate that both sounds are caused by vibrations within the same structure.
93 citations
"Spectral analysis of fetal heart so..." refers background in this paper
...In general, the clinical relevance of spectral analysis of heart sound has a relatively long history (Adolph et al., 1970; Stein et al., 1984; Arnott et al., 1984; Semmlow et al., 1990)....
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TL;DR: The results, obtained using a database containing several heart sound recordings from 20 different people, confirm the biometric properties of PCG signals, which can thus be included among the physiological signs used by an automatic identification system.
Abstract: The performance of traditional biometric identification systems is, as yet, unsatisfactory in certain applications For this reason, other physiological or behavioral characteristics have recently been considered, using new electrical or physical signals linked to a person's vital signs This paper examines the biometric characteristics of phonocardiogram (PCG) signals from cardiac auscultation The idea is that PCG signals have specific individual characteristics that can be taken into consideration as a physiological sign used in a biometric system More specifically, the paper proposes a preliminary study related to the identification of individuals via frequency analysis of cardiac sounds The results, obtained using a database containing several heart sound recordings from 20 different people, confirm the biometric properties of PCG signals, which can thus be included among the physiological signs used by an automatic identification system
90 citations
"Spectral analysis of fetal heart so..." refers methods in this paper
...The power spectrums of fPCG signals as a function of frequency are obtained and the resulting information is shown to be useful for the preliminary diagnostic applications of the fetus (Beritelli and Serrano, 2007)....
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